New Beginnings
by SSSammiSue
Summary: After Dan and Brian spend New Year's in New York they both want to see much more of each other. Dan has the idea to stay in New York so they can spend more time together. True love is tested as they push the boundaries of their relationship.
1. New Beginnings

"It's so big," Brian said as he inched closer to me.

"I can't believe this is finally happening," I said smiling at him.

"After all this time. Are you ready for this?" He asked, knowing the answer.

"I still can't believe I own my own apartment." After living with Babz for the first 25 years of my life I decided to look at apartments, and I found the perfect one. And it also just so happens to be in New York. When you walk in the door the living room sits to your right while the left side contains the kitchen and dining room. Standing at the front doors you can look through the whole place to the back door, which leads to the small fenced in backyard. My room is in the back left corner, past the dining table, and is nice and roomy. Across the hall is the bathroom and spare bedroom; which I turned into an office to do all of my editing and gaming.

Before our New Year's trip to New York I checked out apartments online. I didn't want to spoil the surprise so I kept this a secret from Brian for a couple months as I shopped online. I eventually narrowed it down to two places. Once I got to New York I checked out the two apartments, signed a lease, and then went back to the train station to get picked up by Brian. He had no clue I had already been there for hours.

"Well as a welcome home present, why don't we break it in?" Brian asked as he ran his hands down my torso.

"Because I don't want to break anything." He let out a mischievous laugh and proceeded to plant a soft kiss on my lips.

"So…" I said as I walked toward the couch, near a hidden camera currently recording. As I suspected he followed me over and his eyes started asking questions.

"What?" He glanced around the room and back at me. "Why do you only have a tissue box on the table by the couch?" This random question confused me for only a quarter of a second. "What's the camera for?" He asked with a small smile. I was hoping I would be able to get away with the hidden camera but Brian is very observant.

"Brian," I pause choosing my words carefully. "I love you, and I'd drive over to your house every day just to see you. But I want more of you. I want to wake up next to you every morning, and I want to cuddle with you every night. Unless it's really hot, in that case you're on the couch." He smiled at the ground and laughed for a couple seconds, then returned his eyes to mine. I held his hand as I finally said, "Brian, will you live with me?" He gave me the biggest smile I have ever seen, grabbed me by the neck and pressed his lips against mine.

"Yes. A million times yes," he glanced at my unsuccessful hidden camera, "I recommend turning the camera off now, because you probably don't want your viewers to see what I'm about to do." I turned off the camera and returned to Brian.

"So what are you about to do?" I asked with a lust filled voice and loving eyes. In that instant he picked me up like a man would carry his wife to their honeymoon suite and took me to my bedroom. Correction, our bedroom.

Hours later, a little before midnight, we finished unpacking all of Brian's things. "So what are we going to do tomorrow?" I asked, excited that I had Brian all to myself.

"Well I have to work," I made a sad face and he added, "at least the commute isn't quite as long now. Living here cuts it down by about thirty minutes."

"So you'll be home around 6:30."

"We can make dinner together when I get home. It's pretty late so I'm going to head to bed. Are you going to stay up editing your video, or are you coming to bed?"

"I think it's bed time." I laid on the right side of the bed and Brian took his place on the left, but it didn't take him long to join me on my side. Our bodies fit together perfectly as he spooned me and draped his left arm over me. With the comfort of my boyfriend sleeping next to me I quickly fell asleep.

I awoke to Brian's lips on my forehead. "Have a good day at work," I mumble, still half asleep. I give him a kiss and add, "Love you."

"I love you too," he says, then leaves for work. I fall back asleep and wake up around 10am. I get around then head for Starbucks for my Americano to start my day. The first thing I decide to do is look for a job. In my search for an apartment I also searched for job openings and career opportunities so I followed up on that by meeting up with some companies and trying to secure some interviews. An insurance company I had been communicating with happily agreed to arrange an interview for me on Friday at 9am. After the job hunt I went to the grocery store to get stuff for vodka cream pasta, a meal I saw on Rachael Ray. I know Brian said he wants to cook together when he gets home but I decided to surprise him and have dinner ready when he walks in. When I get home with my groceries I put them away and go to edit my new video. When 6 o'clock rolls around I call Brian to get an idea of how much time I have before he returns home.

"Hey, are you almost home?"

"Yeah, about half an hour away," he responds. "Why?"

"Just wondering. So how was work?" We chatted for a few minutes as Brian told me about his day. After I got off the phone I went straight to cooking. While the pasta cooks I throw the garlic bread in the oven and chop up some squash and zucchini to sauté. I'm pulling the garlic bread out of the oven when I hear Brian open the door. "Dinner's ready," I say as I add the sauce to the penne noodles. "I know you said we should cook together but I wanted to surprise you."

"This actually works well, I'm starving," He says as he takes off his jacket and shoes. He walks into the kitchen and looks at my concoction. He gives me a kiss and says, "You're the best boyfriend ever."

"I know," I say jokingly. We each grab a plate and sit across from each other at the table.

"This is delicious," he says as he takes a bite of the pasta. "So what did you do all day?"

"I got my video done. There's going to be some crazy comments."

"Oh because of the kiss?" Brian asks, stabbing his fork into his veggies. "Maybe we should read them after dinner."

"That's what I was planning on doing. Oh, so guess what's happening Friday?"

"Hmm?" He says, chewing his garlic bread.

"I have a job interview with an insurance company."

"Nice. You'll be making bank if you get the job." I tell him about the rest of my job hunt as we finish our meal. As I'm putting the dishes in the dishwasher Brian says, "So are you ready to check on your crazy fans?"

"Oh yeah, this should be fun." We sat at the computer and I brought up my video of me asking Brian to move in. "Let's see, top comment goes to Chexican137, 'Omg! That is like the cutest thing I've ever seen! Omg love you guys. You should get married.' Exittricks says 'and then they had crazy monkey sex.'" Brian chuckled at this comment, recalling the event. We continued reading but Brian eventually fell asleep on me and went to bed, so naturally I stayed up reading the comments for hours. If they like this they should see what else I have planned.


	2. New Awakenings

I woke up Thursday morning already nervous for my interview the following day. I could tell Brian was awake by the soft rhythmic motion his body made against mine as he breathed. I must have been lying there stiff because he noticed my nervousness and asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just really nervous for my interview tomorrow." He nestled his nose into my neck and replied, "Relax, you'll do fine," his words didn't help much; I was still stiff as a board. He tilted his head slightly and kissed my neck. His nose brushes against my skin as he moves his head to kiss my shoulder. I'm starting to relax now. His lips then find their way to my collarbone. Well, I'm not nervous anymore. He can feel me ease up, now that he's awoken every nerve in my body.

"I don't want you to stop but you should probably be getting ready for work." He kisses my collarbone one last time, plants a kiss on my lips, then gets up to get around for work. Once he's gone the nerves slowly trickle back in. Earlier in the week I tried on some suits at Men's Warehouse and picked one out I like. A few alterations had to be done so my suit guy said it would be ready for pick up no later than today. That's right, I have a suit guy; it's fun to say. He called me around noon saying my suit is ready for pickup and I could come any time. I get in my car and head over to the mall, and of course I got my Starbucks fix on the way. When I got there Jacob, my suit guy, had me try on the altered suit. I try on the altered suit and check myself out in the mirrors. The dark blue pinstriped suit fits perfect, and I like the light purple shirt Jacob had picked out to go underneath. As I stand in front of the mirrors he stands behind me, smoothing down the shoulders of the suit.

"It looks like the jacket fits a lot better now," he placed his hands on my waist, "See how we just made it a little smaller in the waste? Now it's not as loose anymore. Does it feel right?"

"Yeah it fits really well. Thanks Jacob." He backed away allowing me to continue checking myself out. I can understand why he enjoys his job.

"You said before you're getting the suit for interviews. Where are you interviewing?" He asks, making conversation.

"I have an interview tomorrow with an insurance company."

"That's cool. What kind of stuff would you be doing if you get the job?"

"Basically calculating people's life risk."

"So you're a math guy," he observed. Our conversation ended shortly and I paid for my suit. My suit, shirt, and tie would have cost over $700, but when I first came in the store Jacob told me about $600 suits on sale for $200 Wednesday through Friday, and we all know I love a good opportunity buy.

It was nice to go shopping because it made me forget all my nerves, but on the car ride back the thought of failing my interview consumed me. What if I get a case of word vomit? What if I forget my answers and am too silent? What if I make a bad first impression? What if they already found my YouTube videos; Oh god what kind of questions would they ask then? I need to stop psyching myself out. The nerves and anxiety only get worse when I ask myself these questions. When I get home I distract myself with some Mario Kart until Brian walks through the door.

"I'm home," I hear Brian say around 7o 'clock. He hears me gaming and enters the room. "Are you filming?" He asks as he steps forward.

"Yeah," I respond, still focused on my game. He leans his head against mine, looking at the camera. "Say hi Brian."

"Hi." As I finish the race Brian starts nibbling on my ear.

"Okay guys Brian's distracting me so that's all for now. And I would just like to say I took second as Bowser, that's pretty good. When you guys told me to play as Bowser I thought I'd fail. Oh, make sure to comment and give me another character to play. K bye." I turned the camera off and turned to Brian.

"Have you been playing games all day?"

"Well I had to pick up my suit, but other than that yeah I've been playing games."

"Trying to get your mind off the interview?" I nodded my head. "Why don't we have dinner and then I'll give you a massage."

"I love you." Brian is seriously the best boyfriend ever. Brian made mashed potatoes for me and I cooked up some chicken. After dinner I was excited to lie down and relax. I lay on my stomach in the middle of the bed waiting for Brian.

"Shirt off," he said entering the room. I obeyed, quickly removed my dark blue polo and closed my eyes. The motion of the bed told me he was next to me. Suddenly I feel a cool liquid being poured onto my back.

"What is that?"

"After work I went to the store to get some massage oil. I know you've been stressing over this job so I wanted to help." His hands gently rubbed the oil over every inch of my back. "Hang on, this is an awkward position to give a massage," following these words he stepped one leg over me, now straddling my body. He continued to rub the oil in and asked, "Feel good?"

"The oil is a little cold, but oh my god yes. Is this the kind of oil that..?" Before I could even finish my sentence he ever so lightly blew on my back, and the oil heated up. I let out a moan of pleasure.

"It's also edible," he says playfully. Now he's just teasing me.

"You're lying," and with that he kisses my upper back and begins to suck and bite, forming the most pleasurable hickey. My moans escape my lips as he continues. Once he stops and I calm down I say, "Don't start something you can't finish." Brian's massage sent me to a state of nirvana. I fell into a peaceful slumber shortly after he finished.

I start off Friday morning by heading to Starbucks; I need my Americano to tackle the day. At least Brian doesn't work today so I have him to come home to. I get to the office about 10 minutes early and figure out getting here early does nothing to help my nerves. I walk in and the receptionist asks me if I have an appointment.

"Yes. I'm Dan Brian, I have an interview today." She directs me to a chair outside Mr. Novak's office. The chair is kind of hard. And it's cold in here. After what feels like hours finally emerges from his office.

"Daniel, nice to meet you," he shakes my hand and then continues, "please come in." My first impression of this guy is he has a really deep voice. "Do prefer Dan or Daniel?"

"Dan."

"Tell me about yourself Dan."

"Well I graduated at the University of Connecticut with a degree in mathematics. I was a part of the tennis club, and I'm addicted to Starbucks." Why did I just say that? His strict face gave me a look of confusion; now he's going to think I'm some crazy lunatic but he seems to brush it off.

The rest of the interview seems to go okay, but I feel like I'm talking too fast. After about 40 minutes of answering questions I'm done.

"Thank you Dan for your time, I still have to do a background check but I will get back to you in about a week. Do you have any last minute questions for me?"

"It's not a question, but since you're doing a background check I'll make your life a little easier and say I am a YouTube partner." He's going to find out eventually, right?

"Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Thank you for considering me for this position. I hope to hear back from you soon." And on that note I head for my car.

During my drive back home I can't help but think I'm not getting the job. First off I was talking really fast, and secondly I practically handed him my channel. I have absolutely no idea what he'll think of that. Finally I'm at my apartment.

As I walk towards the door I continue thinking I won't get the job. I open the door, take two steps in and I hear small and fast footsteps coming from the bedroom. "Go get him!" I hear Brian say. A speedy white puffball comes running out and jumps on me, only reaching my knees.

"Hi!" I say to the puppy, sitting on the ground and petting her behind the ears. All my nerves and worries disappear as my hands run down her insanely furry back.

"I see you've met Snow," Brian says, walking out of the bedroom. "I know you've wanted a puppy for a long time now, and since you were super nervous about your job interview today I figured now was the perfect time to get you one." He paused as I stood up, "It doesn't matter whether or not you got the job. We still have each other. And there are always other jobs out there." I wrapped my arms around him, thanking him. Brian always knows what to say, and what to do, I am in love with this puppy! As I continued to play with Snow Brian says, "She's an American Eskimo. I thought you might like her."

"I'm sorry Brian but you've been replaced, I found a new snuggle buddy." Well today has been an emotional rollercoaster. But at this very moment all I care about is the fact that I have my amazing boyfriend and my adorable new puppy.


	3. New Reactions

Brian's nose pressed against my cheek as I dreamed about Starbucks. I could feel Brian's warm breath against my face as I continued my dream. I was first in line for a new coffee blend being released. Suddenly I felt Brian's tongue brushing against my face.

"Brian," I say in my sleep as he continues, "Stop it." My plea is ignored and instead followed by him panting. As I slowly awake from my dream I hear Brian laughing three feet away from me. My face is still being licked as I open my eyes. "Good morning to you too Snow." Brian is still chuckling so I turn to him and ask, "What?"

"You thought Snow was me. You were talking in your sleep, it was too cute to stop," he said with a grin.

"It's a good thing I'm not allergic to her. I still feel bad you had to evict your cat because of me."

"My parents are taking good care of her and my puppy, it's okay. Besides," he cuddles up against me and finishes, "if I had to choose between you and my cat, or anything for that matter, it'd be you."

As the day goes by my iPhone doesn't leave my hands. It's been eight days since my interview. Mr. Novak said I would hear from him within a week. He has to call today, he just has to. Brian goes to the living room to turn on the TV and check out the weather for the day. I stay lying in bed with Snow, petting her and kissing her wet nose. "Do you think I'll get the job Snow?" She tilts her head sideways as if to say "I don't know" and then proceeds to lay her head on my stomach.

"So guess what?" Brian asks, walking into the bedroom. I look at him and he continues, "Snow gets to play in the snow today!" My attention was on Snow the whole morning; I didn't even think to look out the window! I turn around to the window behind me and sure enough we have snow. Not a lot, but enough to be excited for our puppy's adventure in the snow. It was fun walking Snow around New York, we took her to central park and she loved it. She frolics through the snow as we walk, and as the snow falls she tries to catch it in her mouth. She stays close to me since I'm holding her leash; and I've got Brian on poop patrol. It's actually pretty chilly so me and Brian stay close, sharing body heat. We end up walking around for a while, and it's not until 4pm that we get back to the car. Ten steps from the car my phone goes off. Walking around with a leash in one hand and Brian in the other made me forget about my phone momentarily.

"It's him," I said, almost paralyzed to Brian, recognizing Mr. Novak's number on my phone's screen.

"Well answer it!" I huddled against Brian's body, and he wrapped his arms around me for support. His head rested on my shoulder so he could hear the conversation.

"Hello?"

"Dan Brian? This is Mr. Novak. I'm calling in regards to your job application." I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. It doesn't help that everything this guy says sounds like bad news because of his deep, stern voice.

"Well I reviewed your resume and viewed multiple videos of yours. You are very…" He took a moment to choose his adjective, "unique." I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing. "You are highly energetic," sounds okay so far, "blunt," that's not bad is it? "Sassy at times," did he seriously just say sassy? "And you don't take things too seriously," I'm screwed. "And you really were not kidding when you said you're addicted to Starbucks," I think I detected humor in his voice as he said this, but it sounds like I'm a goner. "That's why I need you for this job."

"Stop it." I cannot believe what I'm hearing. I must have heard him wrong.

"Dan I know you can do the work; your resume and references were marvelous. I needed to know what type of person you are. As I'm sure you're aware buying insurance can be quite bland and many providers' employees don't seem to care about the customer. We are trying to change that image, which is why I would like to offer you a job as an insurance underwriter." Snow barked in the background, almost to say she was excited for me. "I can offer you $26.19 hourly, which would result in an approximate $54,460 annually. So can we do business?" Obviously I accepted the offer. "I'll see you Monday at 9am and we will start your training immediately. Oh, and call me Michael." On that note he hung up and I gave Brian a giant smile.

"I can't believe it. I got it. I got the job!" I said still smiling.

"I know! That's awesome! Why don't I take you out tomorrow night for a congratulatory dinner? There's actually a new restaurant that just opened near us."

"It's a date," I said, planting a kiss on his lips. With all the excitement from the good news, the rest of the day was fairly uneventful and just flew by. It ended with the two of us cuddling on the couch watching reruns of Happy Endings; although Brian's lips constantly on my neck distracted me. At some point the show was still on but we were not paying attention; we had more interest in each other.

The next morning I wake up and find myself in my boxers with the entire comforter cocooned around my body. I usually don't wake up before Brian so I return the covers to him and let him sleep. I take snow into our tiny backyard and wait for her to do her business. After the deed is done, Snow and I spend a little daddy daughter time together in the living room until Brian finally gets up half an hour later. "Nice outfit," I say when he walks out of the bedroom.

"Hmm?" He asks sleepily, and then looks down to realize he is not wearing anything. "I'll go throw something on," he says as he turns around, giving me a nice view of his ass. "You don't have to! I already love what you're wearing," I say as I stare uncontrollably until he is completely out of sight. At which time Snow tried to get my attention.

"Buhhhrian! You know the drill, you have to feed Snow." Because Brian usually has to be up so early he's the one that gives Snow her breakfast, while I feed her dinner. He returns in sweatpants but no shirt, allowing me to scan his naked torso all I want as we search for some breakfast food. As he pours out Snow's breakfast I pour out ours, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I feel bad Brian can't enjoy his favorite cereal, Reese's Puffs, because of my allergies. Brian and I sit at the table enjoying our breakfast as Snow scarfs down her puppy chow. Our day mainly consists of playing with Snow, getting some stuff recorded, and stealing a kiss every chance we get. When 6 o 'clock rolls around Brian is getting out of the shower and I'm buttoning up a navy blue plaid shirt. Suddenly Brian comes up from behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. He kisses my neck then releases me to find some clothes. He chooses a solid sky blue button up and jeans and we're ready to go. "Snow! You have to get in the kennel girly," I say as she ignores me.

"She's sleepy, you wore her out from playing with her all day; she's not going to do anything. I think it's fine if we leave her out," Brian states.

"You're a lucky puppy," I say, petting her head before we leave. The car ride is only about ten minutes, but we will probably have to wait a good half hour for a table. We walk in and Brian goes to talk to the hostess.

"Lafond, party of two. I called ahead." How did I not hear him on the phone earlier? He must have called when I was in the shower.

"Yep I have you right here. It'll be about five minutes; we just need to clear a table." The five minutes pass quickly and the hostess leads us to our table. We got a cute two person table, and the tables were even dressed up with little candles off to the side. I noticed a family of five sitting across from us, and another couple sitting behind Brian that just got their food.

"Brian the food looks so good; oh, the mashed potatoes look delicious!" He smiles at me and starts a game of footsy under the table. I try to keep a straight face but I can't. "Stop it," I say with a playful smile. Our waitress came over at that moment, so we did stop.

"Good evening, my name is Kat. I'll be your waitress for the night. Can I start you two off with something to drink?"

"I'll just have water," Brian said.

"I'll have a root beer."

"Okay, I'll be right back with your drinks." Brian took more time scanning the menu trying to figure out what he wants. My eyes went straight to the burgers section of the menu. A few minutes later Kat returned with our drinks.

"Are you ready to order or do you need another minute?"

"I'm ready. Are you ready Brian?" He nodded his head and waited for me to order first. "I'll have the classic burger. And I have a tree nut allergy so I just wanted to make sure, nothing on it is made with tree nuts right?"

"Our barbeque sauce is made with tree nuts, so if you want to get it without the barbeque sauce you'll be fine. Also I'll be sure to notify the chef."

"Okay, thank you. Oh and I'll also have a side of the mashed potatoes."

"Alright, and for you?" She turned to Brian.

"I'll have the chicken fajitas, no barbeque sauce."

"Okay, your food should be out shortly." She was right. I'm used to waiting a good thirty minutes for food, but twenty minutes later our food was on the table. After a few minutes our waitress returned to give Brian a refill on his water. "How is everything?"

"Amazing," I say, impressed with my burger and mashed potatoes.

"Delicious," Brian adds. We both agree that this restaurant is a new favorite. The mashed potatoes aren't the best I've ever had, but they're still really good. Near the end of our meal the family of five gets a little louder but we try to ignore them.

"Alright, gentlemen. Here is your bill," she sits the bill in the middle of the table. "Just let me know whenever you are ready to go." Brian pays and we continue talking as the restaurant gets a little louder. Even though everyone's talking I can still pick out the words the toddler across from us says.

"I don't want it!" His parents are trying to get him to eat his chicken.

"I'm telling you right now we're not having kids anytime soon," Brian says in reference to the toddler's whining.

"Which makes this whole conversation a little awkward," I add. "Because I actually think you got me pregnant last night," I joke.

You'd think a food fight had just started the way this child was throwing the temper tantrum of a lifetime. He starts freaking out and grabs practically every piece of food on his plate and begins to rapid fire the food in several directions. One of which was a piece of chicken tender that smacked me right in my face, and literally splattered barbeque sauce all over my face and neck. Kat was taking someone's order as this went down, but in the middle of her sentence she ran to the back off the restaurant.

"Shit!" Brian says as I quickly grab a napkin and wipe the barbeque sauce off my face.

"I'm so sorry," the mother says, not realizing the urgency of the situation.

"Where's your EpiPen?" Brian quickly said. I pulled out my EpiPen and stuck myself in the thigh. I left it there for ten seconds, and then returned it to the container.

"That's the first time I've had to use this EpiPen," I say, rubbing my leg.

"But wait, how long have you had it? Don't they expire?" Brian says, still concerned.

"Umm…" I say checking for an expiration date. "Brian!" I said urgently. "It's two months old!" I start to freak-out inside. What if the EpiPen doesn't work? I might die! We share a brief look of concern and jump to our feet, ready to head towards the ER. Suddenly Kat bursts through the kitchen doors and runs straight towards our table.

"We've already called an ambulance, they're on their way." Waiting for the ambulance was the longest eleven minutes of my life. I could feel the rash forming on my face. My face and neck were insanely itchy and as the time passed I could feel my skin turn to ice. Brian held my hand as we waited in anticipation. I began breathing deeply as we approached the ten minute mark. Sixty seconds later I was happy to hear the siren of the ambulance as it approached. Once the EMTs arrived Brian handed them my information.

"He stuck himself with his expired EpiPen at 7:32," Brian explained the expired EpiPen as we were escorted to the ambulance. They scanned over my information as the doors shut and the ambulance drove off.

Just as everything was going so well, this had to happen. What am I going to do about work tomorrow? It's my first day! A feeling of gloom and worry start to overcome me as I think about what could potentially happen.


	4. New Introductions

Our unexpected trip to the hospital made the next three hours drag on. It didn't take too much time to actually treat me, but they made me stay lying down for what felt like years.

"Alright Dan everything seems to check out," Dr. Martin checked his watch and wrote down the time, "10:46," he mumbled under his breath. "Okay. You are all set to leave." Hearing what time it was, it suddenly dawned on me. I look to Brian with an expression of worry and concern.

"It's okay. You can still get plenty of sleep before work tomorrow," he responds, obviously not understanding what I had just realized.

"We should probably get home to let Snow out," I say with the thought in my head that she may have left a little present waiting for us at home. The same look of concern now comes across his face. We gather our things and go to the front desk to check out. Thirty minutes go by and we finally arrive back home. I am so tired from having been out for so long, I stumbled to find the right key to the door. As I open the door I call out to Snow in the hopes to get her outside as quickly as possible in the event she hasn't already piddled all over our new rug. I began to look around and after a short time I hear her paws hit the ground as she jumps off the bed and comes running out of the bedroom looking extremely happy to see us. "Alright, girly. Let's go outside and go potty." I start to walk towards the backdoor and Brian proceeds to go into the bedroom to change out of his clothes. The moment she gets outside Snow immediately does her business. I am relieved to know that she waited to go outside before she went potty. I can hear Brian calling for me from the bedroom. We walk back inside and he is standing in the doorway.

I close the backdoor and look to him and say, "What is it? Did you find something?" He motions me over and leads me into the bedroom, having nothing to say. This must be serious. Although, I am somewhat hoping for another massage like before, and then some; after the day I had I could seriously use the stress release.

"Snow may have chewed through the cord to your…" He motioned toward my night stand and I saw the horror before he even had to explain. My phone charger was in pieces. I immediately remove my phone from my pocket to check my battery life: 4 percent. I can't. I can't even.

"I have a spare charger somewhere, right?" I ask in desperation.

"Any extras are at Babz's place," he says sympathetically. "You can always buy a new one after work tomorrow."

"Do you even know me?" I ask, unaware of how I will survive without my phone until then.

"That's not all," Brian adds reluctantly.

"Now what?" I ask, thinking it at least can't be any worse than this. Without speaking Brian leads me across the hall into the computer room. "What? What? Don't leave me in suspense!" I cannot deal with his lack of words right now. He then grabs me by the waist and spins me in the direction of the crime. "No. No!" The cord to my computer. The power source to my life. Chewed into oblivion. I can't even comprehend this right now. Unable to speak, I just stand there staring at the broken cord.

"Dan?" Brian says, trying to break me out of the paralyzed state that I'm in, "It's fixable. I'll make some calls while I'm on break tomorrow. It can't be that hard to find a new cord. Now you should really get some sleep." He kisses my neck releasing me from the trance I'm currently in.

"You're right." Trying to let it go, I proceed to the bedroom to change and get into bed. "I guess I'll have to use this alarm clock for the first time," I say, glaring at the ancient piece of technology sitting on the nightstand. I sit my phone on my nightstand and set the alarm clock for 7:30am. I get in bed and crawl under the covers. Brian seemed sleepy because he was lying on his side and didn't move. I tried to close my eyes and sleep but it wasn't happening. After ten minutes of lying there staring at the tattoo on his back I whispered, "Brian? Are you awake?"

"Hmm?" He responded sleepily. He rolled over to look at me and continued, "What is it peanut?"

"I can't sleep. And I can't get on Tumblr. Or Twitter." He responded by joining me on my side of the bed, wrapping his arms around me and whispering in my ear "Don't worry. We'll have that fixed in no time."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He started tracing my body with his fingers, starting at my neck and slowly moving down to my thighs; Brian always knows exactly how to distract me from my thoughts. The feeling of his fingers on my skin relaxes me and I eventually drift into sleep.

I feel Brian kiss my forehead and I open my eyes. "Have a good first day of work Peanut," he says tying his tie, almost ready to leave. "Today is going to go fine. I am pretty sure it will be a hell of a lot better than my first day at my job!" He says, referring to the whole escalator incident.

"That's true. I won't have any battle wounds to explain." He gives me a smile and a goodbye kiss and leaves for work. I fall back asleep knowing I have over an hour until I need to be up. The blaring alarm I'm not use to pounds into my ears at 7:30. I lay there for ten minutes not wanting to be up this early, but I finally get up and take a shower. The hot water runs down my bear skin, waking me up. The hot water creates a steamy atmosphere as I think about how my work day might look. After styling my fauxhawk I find some nice pants, a jacket and tie, and a pair of brown shoes to finish the outfit. I had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and then proceeded to let Snow out to go potty. It took her a few minutes to find the perfect spot, but she finally plopped down and relieved herself. She followed me back in and I reached for my jacket. Snow knew this meant she had to get in her kennel, so naturally she laid her head at my feet and refused to move. I get down on the floor lying on my stomach and say to her, "Snow I have to go to work. Can you please get in the kennel?" She starred at me like I was crazy and then attacked my face with her tongue. "Stop it puppy!" I say with a smile. I get up and head to the kitchen. I open the cupboard that contains her puppy treats and Snow runs for her kennel, knowing she'd get the treat once she was there. "Here you go Snow!" I give her the treat, lock the kennel, and head off to work. I had time to, so I stopped and got my Starbucks on the way. By the time I walked through the doors to the office it was 8:56.

"Hi Dan!" A chipper blond says, brushing her hair behind her ear. People already know my name? "I'm Shannon. I'll be working with you throughout the next six months for your training. I'll give you twenty minutes or so to get acquainted with the place and meet everyone. My office is over there," she points to the right, "down the hall, and it's the last door on the left. So feel free to explore and I'll see you in about twenty minutes." She turned for her office and walked away. Since I have time to explore I figure it would be a good idea to introduce myself to some of my coworkers, and also find the bathroom and break room. I start in the right hallway and find bathrooms at both ends. Four office doors were open so I decided to introduce myself to those here. The first door had Mallory Hayes written on it. I peak in and she looks up, "Oh, hey Dan!"

"Hi," I respond, trying to figure out how she already knows me. We exchange small talk and then I say, "Well I should probably see who else is here, nice to meet you."

"Oh you should meet Mason! His office is right next to mine. He's a really funny guy, you'd like him." I guess I'll say hi to Mason next. I step into his office to find him working on something, but then he looks up.

"Hi Dan! What's up?" Mason says when he sees me. I still don't get why everyone already knows who I am.

"I'm just working on my first task: exploring the place. How many people are here right now?"

"You will probably find nine people in their office right now, Kara is always up front, and some people will just be roaming around." At this point I glance at his desk and see a picture of him and another attractive man smiling.

"Who's that?"

"That's my boyfriend, Aaron. That picture is actually from Valentine's Day last year. Maybe I'll have to update that Thursday."

"Oh yeah Valentine's Day is Thursday!" I had almost forgot after the trauma of last night.

"I was actually able to get the day off so I could spend it with Aaron. How about you, got any special plans?"

"Considering my boyfriend hasn't said anything about it yet, I'm kind of hoping for some kind of surprise. We both have to work though." That is weird that we haven't really talked about it. Now I hope it is some sort of surprise!

"Well I won't keep you any longer. Go check the place out. If you ever want to talk I'm usually in here or in the break room making coffee." After our little conversation I proceed to talk to the other two people in the right hallway offices, Kyle and Chase. They were nice guys, and once again, they already knew me! I found the break room next to Chase's office, that's where I met Cooper. We exchanged small talk, but I couldn't stay long because I wanted to make sure I reported back to Shannon in time. I reach in my pocket to retrieve my phone and read the time, only to remind myself my phone is dead. I just decide it has been about twenty minutes and head for Shannon's office. On my way to her office two more coworkers I haven't met yet say "Hi Dan." Is there some company newsletter introducing new employees I don't know about? I enter Shannon's office to find her looking through some files.

"You made it! Did you meet everyone?"

"I met a handful: Mallory, Mason, Kyle, Chase, Cooper. By the way, how does everyone already seem to know my face?" She smiled as if I should know.

"Well I was talking to Kara last week when we heard Michael laughing in his office. You know he's kind of… loud. Apparently Mason heard him as well and came out to ask us what was going on. So we knocked on his door, asked what was so funny, and he invited the three of us in to show us. He was watching your video 'The confessional.'" I could instantly feel my face turning red. "The story basically ends with Mason emailing it to everyone in the office. So I think it's safe to say you have some fans here." I stood there taking in the obvious information; if someone I haven't met knows who I am it'd probably be a good guess to say they've seen my videos.

"That pretty much explains it."

"In fact… there may be a poll going around that you'll vlog your first day here." I look at her for a second.

"You're in on it, aren't you?" It looked like she was trying to decide whether to tell me or not.

"Ten bucks says the camera is out by lunch. Mason already lost; I think his words were 'ten dollars says he's got the balls to walk in the doors recording.'"

"I guess I didn't have the balls," I say laughing. "Well it sounds like no one will care if I film, maybe I will."

"You know, Mason likes to pull pranks on us all the time, mainly me. Feel free to prank him back sometime, and get it on video!" Okay so I'm loving the atmosphere here, everyone is very fun and easy to get along with. Shannon starts me off with my first task, and by lunch time I seriously consider going out to my car to get my camera.

"Are you any good with hidden cameras?" Mason asks me, walking in the break room with a cooler.

"Sure. What's in there?"

"Shannon's car keys." He says with a grin

"Why are they in a cooler?" He opens the cooler to reveal a large dish of green Jell-O with Shannon's car keys floating in the middle.

"She always goes out for lunch so I decided to make her something!" I let out a small laugh, and ideas started to form in my mind.

"What if I set up my vlogging camera in the fridge, and then I can set up a second camera." I go out to my car and get my cameras; walking back in I make sure Shannon isn't around. I get the cameras set up, and Shannon arrives in the break room two minutes later.

"I'm starving and I can't find my car keys," Shannon says as she enters the room.

"I actually made something and brought it in for everyone. It's in the fridge," Mason says. I chime in, "It's really good."

"Wait what is it?" Shannon asks opening the fridge. "Jell-O?" She then takes a closer look at it. "Mason!" She yells, and at the same time laughs. "How did you…? But when did…?" She went from agitated to slightly amused in seconds. "Well played. I will get you back!" I then get in frame of the hidden camera.

"It looks like we have a new segment MallowPranks coming! So stay tuned for that, and make sure to thumb this video! Snow kind of murdered the cord to my computer but hopefully I'll be able to get this video up shortly, kay bye!" I then turn off the camera.

"You were recording me?" Shannon asks with a smile.

"Oh yeah I have to get my other camera out of the fridge." So that was definitely my high point of the day. The rest of the work day seems to move along quickly, before I know it it's five o'clock and my work day is over. First thing I do is head to Target to get a phone charger. I decide against getting two and figure I'll get my spares the next time I visit Babz. Since I'm at Target I head over to the Valentine's section to get one more thing to add to Brian's gift.

When I get home I have about thirty minutes alone until Brian gets here. The first thing I do is plug in my phone. I then decide to take a shower and change out of my nice clothes. After my shower I throw on some jeans and a dark blue V-neck. I'm playing with Snow in the living room when Brian arrives. Snow barks at him, welcoming him home.

"Hi! Did you miss me?" He asks Snow, petting her head.

"Yes," I respond. He stops petting snow, turns to me, and plants a kiss on my cheek.

"I missed you too. So how was your first day of work?" I told him about my day and showed him the footage of the prank Mason pulled. "That's awesome! Sounds like you'll fit right in. Also, about the computer cord… I have some good news and I have some bad news."

"I don't like bad news."

"The good news is I found the cord we need. The bad news is I can't actually get it until Friday."

"What about my Valentine's Day collab?!" After a few seconds of thought I add, "What about Valentine's Day? We haven't made any plans…"

"Let me take care of that."

"You're cooking for me, right?" His smile answered my question. "So what are you getting me?"

"Well I was thinking about taking you on another trip. You remember when we went on that midnight walk to find that star." I recall the memory of me freaking out as Brian led me through the darkness.

"Please tell me you're not taking me to some dark and creepy forest to 'take me virginity' like you said last time." Brian laughed as he recalled our adventure.

"I'm just kidding! There's no way I'm telling you anyways. No matter how much you pester me. It's a surprise!"

The next two days are just normal work days, but Brian went to visit his parents on Wednesday. I spent that time wishing he was with me, watching Friends With Benefits, and texting him.

Me: Maybe I should come over, your parents love me! And I miss you :(

Brian: I miss you too peanut! I won't be too long!

Me: That's what he said

Brian: Haha I love you

Me: Then bring that fine ass back here!

Brian: Is that a FWB reference? Lol

Me: Yeah I'm watching it now. Without you. Snow took your place as my cuddle buddy but it's not the same :(

Brian: I'm jealous of her!

Me: You should be. So what are your parents up to?

He was replying so quickly but then I had to wait ten minutes for his response.

Brian: Not much. We're just catching up

Me: Where did you go?

An hour pasted and he didn't answer me.

Me: It's past eleven! Why aren't you responding? :( Come home I miss you!

He still wasn't responding, he better be driving back by now. By midnight my movie ends and he's still not here, so I get on twitter to check up on everyone. The first tweet I see on my timeline is Brian: "Mallow610 will you be my #Valentine?" His tweet included a link to YouTube.

"Brian what did you do?" I say out loud. As I watch his video the biggest smile forms on my face. Twenty seven seconds in I find myself saying "stop it." If I wasn't blushing the whole time I definitely was a minute and a half in. Omg I can't even! Brian is the best boyfriend in the world! Thirty minutes later I see him outside walking to the door. He barely gets inside before I attack him with my lips. My hands explore his body and land on his waist as my tongue enters his mouth. Pulling away he says "somebody missed me!" I give him the world's biggest smile and say, "Shut up," then return to his lips. After another kiss I say, "and yes," I kiss him again, "I will be your valentine!" Because I jumped him he never even took his jacket off, so I slide it off of him and it falls to the floor. Without letting go of each other we maneuver our way through the open space to the bedroom. I push him against the wall and something falls off the shelf next to us. We both let out a small laugh and then return to each other's lips. Brian grabs me by the wrists and walks me back until the back of my legs are touching the bed. His hands graze my chest and give me a slight push, making me fall onto the bed. He climbs on top of me and removes my shirt. "It's my turn," I say, brushing Brian off of me and climbing on top of him.

Brian woke me by placing a kiss on my lips. "Have a good day at work peanut. I'll try to get out of work as soon as possible. I love you."

"I love you too," I say with my eyes closed, still extremely tired. My alarm goes off at 7:30 like usual and I open my eyes. Sitting on my nightstand is a box wrapped with pink cupcake covered wrapping paper. The note sitting on top reads, "Happy Valentine's Day Peanut. This is one of two gifts; I have another one for you later. Love, Brian." I unwrap the box to discover the cord I need for my computer. I don't have time right now, but after work I go straight to editing the collab. I'm done editing and the video is uploading when Brian gets home around 7. Snow and I greet him as he walks through the door with a bag of groceries. "What are you making me?" I ask, anxious for whatever he is cooking.

"Guess."

"Mashed potatoes?" He nodded his head.

"Homemade! And parmesan chicken with Caesar-roasted romaine. It's a meal I found on Rachael Ray."

"Sounds fancy," I respond. As he cooks I play with Snow and pester him with questions about what he got me, but he still won't say! When he turns to face the stove I get the flowers I got for him and place them on the counter. When he turns around he gives me a big smile as he stares at the pink and purple flowers.

"Awe, I love them, and I love you," he then follows up by giving me a kiss. When he's done cooking we sit down at the table and enjoy our meal. As we eat Snow alternates between lying on my feet and then Brian's.

"This is amazing!" I tell him. After dinner we cuddle up on the bed and exchange gifts. "You first," I say, handing the box to him.

"No, you first!" He says, giving me a skinny but rather large package. It looks to be two feet wide and two feet long, and only an inch thick. I tear the wrapping paper off excited to see what he got me. Underneath the pink wrapping paper the first thing I see is a really old picture of the two of us. I slide the rest of the wrapping paper off to find two separate collages with over a hundred pictures of us on each. "That's every single picture we've ever taken together. I've saved every one of them because I never want to miss a moment with you." Brian must have spent weeks creating this handmade collage. The only logical response was to give him a long, passionate kiss.

"I love it. You're amazing." I took a few seconds to scan over some of the pictures, "Now open mine!" He rips the wrapping paper off, not wasting any time. When he gets the box open a rose petal falls out.

"It's filled with rose petals?" He asks with a huge grin. His hand digs around in the box of petals to find three more wrapped boxes.

"Start with the big one!" He grabs the big one and reads the note I left.

"For all the memories we have shared." He opens it up to reveal a digital picture frame.

"I guess we both had the same idea, it's already loaded with pictures from the past 8 months." He then picks up the medium sized box and reads the note.

"For all the memories we have yet to create." I can tell he's surprised when he sees I got him a camera. "You shouldn't have!"

"You're an official vlogger now; you need your own camera!" He finally gets to the small box, Brian looks for a note thinking it matches the others but doesn't find one. Unwrapping the small box reveals a glass case with a preserved rose petal standing in the middle.

"What's with the rose petals?" He asks, slightly confused.

"There's one rose petal for each day I've loved you." He's about to ask how many are in there, but then sees it engraved into the glass. "244 and counting. We've been dating for about that long," he observes.

"Exactly that long." Brian gazes into my eyes with the most loving look on his face.

"I love you so much," he says cuddling up to me and touching his lips to mine.

"This right here is exactly what I wanted for Valentine's Day. Nothing's better than just being with you."

We continue making out as his hands explore my body. Nothing is better than the seconds I spend with Brian, and somehow every second is better than the last.


End file.
